From 8am to 5pm yesterday (first day of the lunar new year), tourists from China have lined up to wait for clearance to enter Vietnam via the border gate in Lao Cai Province.
Tourism leaders have presented flowers to the foreign tourists.
This year, many Chinese tourists are scheduled to visit Hanoi, Hai Phong and Quang Ninh.
Nguyen Dinh Dung, deputy director of the provincial culture, sport and tourism department said that over 1,000 tourists from China visited Vietnam via the Lao Cai border gate on Monday.
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Local leaders present flowers to tourists from China (Photo: Tuoi Tre)
Meanwhile, the Cam Ranh International Airport in the southern province of Khanh Hoa welcomed two aircraft carrying 251 visitors from the Russian Far East on the same day, reported Vietnamplus.
They hail from nine provinces of the Far Eastern regions on a tour which started since October 31, 2011. The tour has so far attracted nearly 17,000 visitors from the Far Eastern regions.
A representative from Anh Duong Tourist Co., Ltd, which operated the tour was quoted by Vietnamplus as saying that at present there are 10 flights bringing Russian visitors to Vietnam each week.
According to the Khanh Hoa Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the province received almost 2.2 million holidaymakers in 2011, including 440,000 foreigners.
This year, the provincial tourism sector aims to raise the number of foreign arrivals to 500,000.
